Timeline by Michael Crichton

Robert Doninger is the president and founder of ITC and Crichton makes him out to be like Bill Gates : a brilliant , self-made man . He ‘s also cruel and has no concern for the welfare of his employees , who he sends out on dangerous missions without explaining the dangers Professor Edward Johnson is the head of the archaeology team exploring the ruins of Castlegard and unofficial guardian to his student Chris Hughes . Chris ‘s idea of being a man involves romancing the ladies , but he [banner_entry_middle]

finds that he is physically and emotionally lacking in the real 14th century . Andre Marek becomes the unofficial head of the team that is sent to 14th century France . He lives as if he did belong to that era inherently understanding the culture and etiquette of that time as well as being a master swordsman . The lone female on the team is Kate Erickson , an architecture student who finds that she passes for a man more convincingly than a woman , even so , she finds herself fending off advances from Chris

The story begins in New Mexico , where a disturbed old man is found wandering through the desert and later dies . Before the doctors at the hospital to which he ‘s transferred can examine him , he ‘s taken away and cremated . From there , it ‘s off to France where a team of student archaeologists , led by Edward Johnson , are exploring the ruins of 14th century Castlegard . Johnson must leave to meet with their sponsor Robert Doninger , so the team continues working without him . They make monumental discoveries concerning the castle and its secret passageways before they find Johnson ‘s glasses among the ruins . Testing on the glasses proves that they were lost in the 14th century – but how can that be ? The team gets the answer when they are whisked away to New Mexico to meet Robert Doninger . Doninger ‘s company , ITC , has been experimenting with time travel . Johnson was sent to 14th century France in to look around , but he was not supposed to enter the world Johnson requires rescuing , so a team made up of Andre , Chris , Kate and a couple of ITC employees are sent to find Johnson and bring him back Everything goes wrong as soon as they arrive , so the team splits up and becomes involved with both the politics and the key players during this time . They discover that ITC has been sending many employees to the 14th century , and one of the risks of too many trips is permanent brain damage . One such employee , Robert de Kere , has chosen to remain behind for months rather than returning and risking more brain damage . His loyalties are with his new friends he works against Johnson and his team . Chris starts out fearful but eventually finds his own strengths when he doesn ‘t have Marek by his side to protect him Marek finds that he fits in so well with this culture that he… [banner_entry_footer]